1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to displaying apparatus and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to display case structures for displaying jewelry items such as rings and bracelets and non-jewelry items such as eyewear, scarves, coins, small leather goods and pens.
2. HISTORY OF THE PRIOR ART
Jewelry items to be sold, such as rings and bracelets, are conventionally supported in an attractive arrangement on the top side of a display case structure that typically comprises a framed, pad-like base on which appropriate slots, curved support structures and the like are formed to hold the jewelry items in the predetermined display arrangement thereof, and readily permit one or more of the items to be removed by a salesperson and handed to a potential customer for a closer inspection of the item. Non-jewelry items such as eyewear, coins, small leather goods and pens may be similarly displayed.
Display cases of this general type have been conventionally constructed for a number of years as fixed configuration, "dedicated" units, each shaped to support and display only a given type or types of sale items in a predetermined nonvariable arrangement. For example, a first conventional framed display case of this sort might be permanently configured to support and display only rings, with a second separate framed display case permanently configured to support and display only bracelets, and a third separate framed display case permanently configured to support and display only rings and bracelets in a fixed relative positioning of these two jewelry items.
This conventional construction of framed display oases, for both jewelry and non-jewelry items, significantly limits the display flexibility of each case and thus often requires that a seller purchase and store a substantial number of these fixed configuration framed display oases to provide him with the ability to selectively alter both the types of items displayed and their relative orientation in a given display setting. Additionally, changing the merchandise mix and the ability to vary inventory levels in the current economic environment, makes permanent, single purpose fixtures impractical.
It can readily be seen from the foregoing that it would be desirable, from cost, storage space and display flexibility standpoints, to provide a single framed display case structure which could readily accommodate a variety of displayed item types in a selectively changeable array thereof. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide such a framed display case structure.